January was shaped by the Israeli decision to ban high profile BDS activists and a series of embarrassing missteps by the BDS movement. With support apparently dropping on campus, the BDS movement’s antisemitic anger is exacerbating its clumsiness and prompting new tactics, including linking Israel with the Trump Administration and covering its intent with broad ‘human rights’ concerns. These have had limited success, since the antisemitic backgrounds of supporters are often quickly apparent.

In an era defined by social media the digital tracks follow individuals into the future. But national level institutions such as ‘old media,’ universities and other corporations, and legislatures, increasingly predisposed to display the ‘correct’ social leanings, are slower to be embarrassed by such antisemitic displays, especially from certain sectors.

Analysis

The most significant BDS related development in January was the decision by the Government of Israel to ban activists from a number of high profile BDS groups. These include ‘Jewish Voice for Peace,’ Students for Justice in Palestine and its supporting organization, American Muslims for Palestine, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, War on Want, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, BDS South Africa and BDS Chile, and the American Friends Service Committee.

Israeli Strategic Affairs minister Gil Erdan stated this marked a shift from defense to offense against the BDS movement. Erdan added “No country would allow visitors who arrive to harm the country to enter it and certainly not when their goal is to wipe out Israel as a Jewish country.”

Arguably, more significant BDS developments took place elsewhere. In New Orleans a BDS resolution was introduced and adopted by the city council. Described as a ‘human rights’ resolution, the measure called on the city to insure that none of its investments or contracts were with firms that violated global human, civil or labor rights. Although the measure did not mention Israel by name, later publicity revealed that the measure had been “in accordance with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, also known as BDS.”

In the wake of furious complaints it was quickly revealed that the local Palestine Solidarity Committee had drafted the resolution in consultation with the city’s mayor elect. In response, she and city council members expressed dismay and were quickly forced to disavow it, with some explaining that they had “no clue we were stepping into an international political controversy.” The affair concluded with the city council unanimously withdrawing the resolution and members expressing that they felt “duped.” Pro-Palestinian protestors attempted to disrupt the meeting.

Elsewhere, the first hijab-wearing model for L’Oreal cosmetics, Amena Khan, removed herself from the campaign after it was revealed that she had made a series of antisemitic social media postings. Among other things Khan had called Israel a “sinister state,” an “illegal state,” and had said the country is full of “child murderers.”

In another case, Amani al-Khatahtbeh, the founder of MuslimGirl.com, declined a “changemaker” award from Revlon, citing the company’s spokesperson, Gal Gadot, and her “vocal support of the Israeli Defense Forces’ actions in Palestine.” Al-Khatabaneh also has a history of antisemitic statements and support for the BDS movement, including blood libels and allegations that “9/11 was an inside job.”

Both cosmetic companies had embraced Khan and al-Khatabaneh without proper vetting, who were condemned only by Jewish sources. In response, a number of Muslim writers voiced support for both women and charged that criticism was anti-Muslim and racist and claimed that Gadot’s involvement with Revlon was anti-Palestinian.

In contrast to the embarrassment and disavowal by the New Orleans City Council, both companies distanced themselves without condemnation and the individuals remain unembarrassed. In a disturbing trend antisemites and their facilitators increasingly regret only unwanted exposure, while their loathsome beliefs are tolerated to a point because of tokenism that flatters corporations or other institutions.

Another notable development was the boycott of the Los Angeles Women’s March by local Palestinian and BDS groups protesting the participation of actress Scarlett Johansson, formerly spokeswoman for the Israeli firm Sodastream. One group stated that Johansson’s “unapologetic support of illegal settlements in the West Bank, a human rights violation recognized by the international community whose calls only led to a reaffirmation of her position, sending a clear message that Palestinian voices and human rights for Palestinians do not matter.”

The decision to boycott the march was a transparent and misleading publicity stunt, since Johansson had not worked with Sodastream for several years. The protest was an effort to shame her for past associations, either to elicit an apology and/or to warn off others from working with Israeli brands.

In academia, a BDS resolution at the University of South Florida was suddenly introduced, debated, and then tabled. The bizarre resolution included condemnation of the “Balfour act” of 1916, the assertion that Tel Aviv was the capital of Israel, and “refutes the Israeli justification for Palestinian occupation under the religious context of a “promised land.”” Equally bizarre was the assertion by a student senator that the resolution needed to be passed quickly because of an ‘Arab League deadline.’ The fact that students supporting the resolution, including the student government president, are 9/11 ‘truthers’ should also be noted, along with the involvement of an Egyptian-American political activist connected with the Muslim Brotherhood.

A second resolution, revised with the help of the university’s Hillel rabbi, addressed these issues. Rather than condemning the “the atrocities that the State of Israel has committed against Palestinian people” the revised resolution recognized “the suffering of the Palestinian people,” condemned Israeli ‘settlements’ and the ‘occupation, including in Gaza, as well as the Trump Administration’s decision to recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The measure passed overwhelmingly. The assistance of the Hillel rabbi appears to have been critical in expunging the bizarre and antisemitic elements from the original resolution and substituting boilerplate condemnation of Israel and the US. While the BDS movement has always sought Jewish support, it is unusual for mainstream Jewish representatives to help save them from their own antisemitism.

In academia organizations, the Modern Language Association (MLA) held its annual meeting. BDS was not on the formal agenda, thanks to a referendum voted on by the membership last spring that barred the organization from adopting Israel boycotts. In response to that vote, dozens of members reportedly resigned in anger, claiming voting irregularities that had “stifled” support for BDS. Two leading BDS figures resigned from the organization’s executive board, claiming that they had run in part on platforms supporting BDS and that the board had shown “a troubling fetishization of process with little sensitivity or critical attention to the historical moment in which we are operating.”

This statement, however, effectively demonstrated that they had sought to take over the MLA on behalf of the BDS movement, in the same manner that has been exposed in many academic organizations. One BDS opponent also noted that the incoming president of the MLA in 2020, Judith Butler, is a leading BDS figure, who is likely to use her period in office to manipulate the organization against Israel. Butler’s scheduled participation in an MLA session on “Palestine and the Future of Academia” supports this conclusion.

Marcus, a well-known opponent of BDS and supporter of Jewish students’ rights, had previously been Staff Director at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights, and Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. He is also the founder of the Louis S. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

Marcus’s nomination had been bitterly opposed by the BDS movement and its supporters, which characterized him as an ‘anti-Palestinian rights crusader.’ The impact of the opposition is difficult to assess, but Democratic Senators were uniformly hostile to Marcus, suggesting before his testimony that he was more concerned with Jewish students than with other minorities. Particular concern was expressed regarding Marcus’s support for definitions of antisemitism that include Israel.

Reports also indicated that prior to the vote a senior advisor to Patty Murray, ranking Democrat on the HELP committee, told a lobbyist “We don’t care about anti-Semitism in this office,… We care about transgenders, we care about blacks, we care about Hispanics, we care about gays, we care about lesbians, we care about the disabled.” Murray’s office later denied the report.

In the international sphere, the Irish Senate debated a measure to criminalize trade with Israeli ‘settlements,’ punishable by prison terms up to five year. While ostensibly aimed at all ‘occupied territories’ the author of the legislation and the debate made it clear the measure was aimed at Israel alone.

The Irish government reluctantly opposed the bill on the grounds that it would jeopardize ‘traditional Irish neutrality.’ Observers noted that the bill would also run afoul of US laws preventing companies doing business in the US from boycotting Israel, as well as the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs and European Union policies. A vote on the measure was postponed at the request of the government, which also threatened to support the bill before the summer if there was not significant progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The debate was marked by harsh invective against Israel including accusations that Russian immigrants had ‘dragged’ Israel ‘to the right. To display its displeasure the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the Irish Ambassador to a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office.

In other international news, Amnesty International UK abruptly canceled a meeting that was to be held at its London headquarters sponsored by the Jewish Leadership Council to discuss the United Nations Human Rights Council’s obsession with Israel. The reason given was the allegation that the council was “an organisation that actively supports Israel’s settlements” which ran counter to Amnesty International UK’s formal support of BDS. Jewish leaders and other expressed outrage.

Alex Joffe

Editor SPME / BDS Monitor

Alexander H. Joffe is an archaeologist and historian specializing in the Middle East and contemporary international affairs. He received a B.A. in History from Cornell University in 1981 and Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona in 1991. From 1980 to 2003 he participated in and directed archaeological research in Israel, Jordan, Greece and the United States. Joffe taught at the Pennsylvania State University and Purchase College, and has been Director of Research for Global Policy Exchange, Ltd., and The David Project, Center for Jewish Leadership.

Joffe's work is uniquely broad. Since 1991 he has published dozens of studies on the archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean and is a leading figure in contentious debates over the relationship between archaeology and politics in the Middle East. He has also authored numerous works on contemporary issues, including Middle Eastern environmental security threats from pollution and weapons of mass destruction. His work on the problem of dismantling intelligence agencies is widely cited by experts and democratic reformers alike.

In the past decade Joffe has written and spoken on topics as varied as the future of American Jews, the Palestinian refugee problem, and nationalism. During that time as well he has been deeply involved with combating the problems of campus antisemitism, the ‘boycott, divestment and sanctions' movement against Israel, and in educating Jews and others about threats to Israel and the West. His current projects include a biography of a British World War II general and several novels. He and his family reside near New York City.

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) is not-for-profit [501 (C) (3)], grass-roots community of scholars who have united to promote honest, fact-based, and civil discourse, especially in regard to Middle East issues.